Wednesday, March 2, 2011

White Nine Tailed Fox

I got sidetracked from the other sketch I had prepared. I've been reading the Shan Hai Jing, a very ancient Chinese mythical bestiary, detailing all manner of fantastical gods, places, peoples, plants, and animals to be found under heaven. I had often come across references to it in other readings (The story of Nuwa and her transformation into the jing wei bird, for which I also recently did a painting, finds one of its earliest mentions in the Shan Hai Jing), and figured it was time to get down to the actual book itself.

I came to the early entry of the nine-tailed fox. This creature resides upon the Green Hills Mountain, amid the jade and cinnabar, and is a fierce man-eating beast. The commentary also mentioned a story of Yu the Great (the founder and progenitor of the legendary Xia Dynasty, China's supposed first dynasty over 4000 years ago). Yu sought an omen that he would marry, and as he rode through the hills, he caught sight of a white nine-tailed fox. This was the sign that he had been searching for, and he took it to mean success. Nine tailed foxes were thought to be auspicious creatures.